(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original G1 reissue Astrotrain. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original G1 reissue Astrotrain here.)
Boy, Hasbro really does
like reissuing Astrotrain in different colors, don't they? Anyways, for
this 3rd time around, they finally went for the show-accurate colors. The
wings, gun, exhaust port, and sides are a very dark, deep royal purple,
and it's of a really nice shade. It's just a TAD darker than I'd have liked,
but it still contrasts well against the dirty, very light gray color used
for the top of the shuttle mode/most of the front of the robot mode. It's
a very nice light/dark color contrast, there. There's also a fair amount
of black, mostly used for the diecast on the top of the train mode. There's
also a fair number of black paint apps, such as on the rear thrusters,
on the faux train wheels on the sides (though they're not painted to the
same extent as on the Platinum Edition
reissue), and on the tailfin and wings for shuttle mode. Because the
purple is SO dark, though, the black is often difficult to make out, particularly
details like the wheels-- I wish they had either been painted a bit lighter
or the purple had been made lighter instead. There's also two small paint
apps on Astrotrain's head-- some light red on his forehead, and some yellow
on his visor. The red looks good against the light gray; the yellow is
a bit difficult to make out because the shade is rather similar to the
gray. As for the stickers, they're the same stickers and in the same places
as they were on the Platinum Edition version.
No mold changes have
been made to this version of Astrotrain.
The 2020 reissue of
G1 Astrotrain finally gets the colors accurate to his appearance in the
show, and he generally looks better for it regardless of its accuracy.
The purple and off-white color scheme is pretty good, though it would've
been even better if the purple had been a titch lighter to let the black
stand out, as well. On one hand, if you're into G1 Reissues and don't mind
paying a rather high price given the size ($50, eesh), you could do worse
than this reissue. On the other hand, given that it came out at around
the same time and at around the same price as Siege Astrotrain, you REALLY
have to want a G1 toy over an "updated" version for this to be a major
consideration.
Review by Beastbot